Six character model sheets to go, then I buy a Bamboo Wacom Tablet with which to color the scanned drawings.
When writing dialog it was easy to post my musings on this blog. Now that I'm drawing I find (oddly) that writing about drawing doesn't come effortlessly. I really am living in a new part of my brain.
Drawing a profile is easy. Drawing a front view is easy. Learning how to rotate them while keeping the likeness requires much concentrated visual thought. When looking at a profile it's easy to see how long/short the nose is. When looking at a frontal it's impossible to see how long/short the nose is. I once read that old time animators built clay 3-D models to turn 360 degrees. This can be done (so I've been told) with pixels and good animation software (which I don't have).
Which raises this question: is this work of a thousand actions a book of prose or a collection of drawings? Since there isn't a lot of action I gotta say it's a book of prose. So why all this effort with model sheets and a soon to be purchased software coloring tablet? I have faith that the symbiotic relation of word balloons and talking heads will create something bigger than the sum of its parts. If I fail, I fail. A year + wasted.
But once the finished pages are unleashed on an unsuspecting public my hope and dream is that I will have created a bona fide graphic novel of philosophical import.
In perusing the shelves of graphic novels at Barnes and Noble yesterday I was astounded at the quality of the illustrations and pictures. That wasn't enough to draw me into reading the stories, however.
What will draw readers into Ecclesiastes University? They must possess five preconditions: an interest in philosophy, humor, existentialism, depression/angst, and Hebrew wisdom literature. Without these I suspect my work will languish.
On a Personal Note
It was one year ago today that we moved my wife out of our house and into a nursing facility. In an uncharacteristic moment of lucidity she begged me today to let her come home. It was agony for me. I then visited our new and first grandchild who is 18 days old. It was ecstasy for me. Our 20 year old son moved out a month ago and after 35 years of constant laughter, noise, pet/home school mayhem of raising five kids I find myself home alone in the deafening silence. My hope is that this comic treatment of Ecclesiastes will help me (and others?) give shape to the existential quandary of life in an often precarious and sometimes profoundly meaningful universe.
Showing posts with label audience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audience. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
I Dreamed of a Narrator for Ecclesiastes University
Once I hit the pause button to rethink the structure of this book my conscious mind went numb, "How do I integrate the helpful comments from my first readers without starting from scratch?" Thankfully, my subconscious mind did not quit working.
I dreamed I invented a narrator, a new main character, who spoke in the first person to a therapist about his depression. He showed the therapist his “notes” which were the comic strip pages already drawn. I drew the narrator's thumb on the right side of the pages holding the comic book for his therapist to read. I also inserted snap shot drawings of the students like when someone takes a photo in a movie and the picture freezes and turns momentarily to black and white. I was freed from strict linearity and could time travel with ease. It was quite liberating, actually.
I dreamed I invented a narrator, a new main character, who spoke in the first person to a therapist about his depression. He showed the therapist his “notes” which were the comic strip pages already drawn. I drew the narrator's thumb on the right side of the pages holding the comic book for his therapist to read. I also inserted snap shot drawings of the students like when someone takes a photo in a movie and the picture freezes and turns momentarily to black and white. I was freed from strict linearity and could time travel with ease. It was quite liberating, actually.
This dream was also disconcerting because I was trying to do math in my sleep…how can I add pages/panels with as little re-editing as
possible? Each day lecture needs an even number of pages, and I CAN’T
disassemble each Publisher Page and relocate the existing word balloons.
Random Thoughts about Narration
Currently, there is no narrator. Readers listen in on the images/dialog that some unnamed person (the cartoonist) provides. An invisible entity chooses camera angles, what to leave out between panels, who says what, etc. I think this is what tires readers. They are borne along with little time to breathe during the journey. A narrator would (if my dream was correct) assist readers in plot.
A narrator talking to a therapist is too 1960s and Woody Allen-ish.
Who was the narrator is Metamorphosis? "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect-like creature."
Are narrators omniscient? They must be in order to convey the plot to the audience. Wiki says,
"The narrator may be a fictive person devised by the
author as a stand-alone entity, or may even be a character. The narrator is
considered participant if an actual character in the story,
and nonparticipant if only
an implied character, or a sort of omniscient or semi-omniscient being who does
not take part in the story but only relates it to the audience."
I need a narrator who is not enveloped by Dr. Q's philosophical musings.
Some narrator options
- a demon “taking photos” of each character rooting for skepticism, doubt, atheism, and/or nihilism to take over.
- an angel “taking photos” rooting for faith/hope/love to take over.
- a hapless student (not me) musing about depression
- a hapless student (me) musing about depression
- God
- Fly on the wall
- Alien
- Solomon
The narrator could
“reflect” at the end of each day’s lecture/riffs. If the joke was stupid he
could say so. His “stance” would be objective. Unlike the students who whine
about Dr. Q’s repetition and gloominess, the objective narrator could respond
logically and clearly, without emotion.
Narrators narrate, but to whom is my narrator speaking?
Readers, of course, but are the panels then supportive documentation for his monologue? If so, fine.
But how then do I segue into the classroom pages? In other words, what is the
narrator saying that would lead him to “show” students talking?
I'm wary of adopting a Screwtape plot; Lewis gets the credit for that bit of brilliance. Plus, I don’t want to bludgeon readers with supernatural-ism, demonic or otherwise.
Do omniscient narrators ever show emotion?
Voice-over while images zoom in from outer space into classroom
(thanks, Google maps).
Given the fact that 428 Publisher pages have been set up with thousands of dialog boxes tediously put in place and filled with correct font and text, I can’t have the
narrator insert his (her, its) voice into an individual page. He/she/it can only speak
before and after each day.
But this poses another huge problem….what possibly
can the narrator say that would fill up an entire page?
I could invent a new student whom the narrator watches outside of class and makes comments about….or the narrator could observe and make comments about all the students. Perhaps the narrator could comment on several of the characters between classes. I can almost visualize a second “plot” outside of the classroom.
Does
the narrator have access to the character’s mind? I the cartoonist have access to the classroom lecture
complete with sound and visuals. I’m enabling viewers to eavesdrop on a
classroom. I do not have access into the psyche of any student (other than any
conclusions we draw from attire, vocabulary, reactions, etc). Perhaps an omniscient narrator would know what students are thinking.
Does the narrator observe Dr. Q between classes? That would
be fun speculation but I’m afraid I'd contaminate the pure text of Eccl
with fiction. My main characters are
the students who listen and react to Dr. Q’s lecture.
A narrator could make the narrative flow more explicit.
He/she/it could turn those talking heads into real persons with whom the
audience could (hopefully) relate. The narrator would "model" for readers curiosity, interest, tedium, astonishment, empathy, etc.
The narrator could show the pictures and biography of each
student like Base Ball Cards.
Narrator in the tone of Rod Serling: “Observe one Karenoia, plagued by OCD, and anxiety- reducing rituals. She thought her life was manageable ... until she
entered Ecclesiastes University [the Twilight Zone].”
The narrator could end each of his/her/its comments with,
“Day one.” But 50 times? Yikes. Perhaps I could reduce the number of days/lectures
by combining them (stretching same color over many pages).
ALIEN DIALOG
Setting: inside space ship
Characters: two aliens, father and son
Plot: son taking dad on outing for bonding (dad agreed to
let son chose the activity)
What planet are they from?
How old are they?
How’d the son know so much about earth?
How could this ever be turned into a stage play?
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Ten Observations about Creativity and Distraction
Before launching a new blog where I'm posting the first rough draft to go public I wondered how that new endeavor might affect my creativity. Here's what I've learned.
1. A significant portion of my brain is now hooked on feedback. Rather than blissfully creating with nary a care, I spend a considerable amount of time hoping for, anticipating, and wishing for feedback.
2. Once I get that welcome feedback I then spend considerable time answering. Both wishing for and responding to feedback takes away from drawing.
3. I also spend time integrating that feedback into the pages I've completed. That is, I'm now editing those first pages incorporating the great suggestions First Readers have offered. This too takes away time from penciling, inking, and posting that public rough draft.
4. While I miss time away from drawing I must admit my ADD prone brain doesn't mind juggling all these disparate tasks. Part of the message of Ecclesiastes is that variety is the spice of life and engaging with the public over these doodles certainly adds variety.
5. Knowing that I've now got followers on that other blog (I think about 10 of the 30 I invited) I feel additional motivation to keep on top of my self imposed posting schedule. I'm aiming for two posts per week. I'd like to do more but turning my latest rough draft into a printable rough draft is still agonizingly slow. I'm just trying to cram too much data (pencil layouts, character development, more tweaking of the dialog, inking, coloring) through too small a pipe (my brain).
6. Posting this very rough draft feeds my sub personalities which are already prone to shame, embarrassment, and discouragement. The work in progress is a fool's errand. Each of the ingredients (humor, layout, facial expressions, section divisions, dialog, etc) are sub par and painful to read. Thus, a considerable amount of psychic time is spent fighting those self critical parts and pushing through the wall of resistance to accomplish the task at hand--illustrate the whole book of Ecclesiastes.
7. I'm "forced" to continually dangle in front of my imagination the Platonic arch-type of a polished, finished, and honed final product. In my mind it "works." It's witty. It's unique. It's helpful. It's drawn to perfection. Readers get it. Theologians, philosophers, and depressed existentialists welcome it. This fantasy is shamed by reality--what I've posted so far falls way short of this ideal. It looks to me garish, confusing, halting, insipid, and the work of a deranged mind. Oh well. There is a perfect graphic novel based on Ecclesiastes in essence somewhere in the universe and my efforts will bring it into existence.
8. I frame this psychic battle in positive terms. Moderating the internal debate builds character, strengthens synapses, and to be frank, is fun. Like the gambler whose dopamine neurotransmitters flow like Niagara when tossing dice, anticipating the finished product keeps my brain chemicals in a nearly constant state of mental bliss.
9. Posting the rough draft reveals many new problems to be solved. How do I conquer the tedium of boring talking heads? How do I help readers distinguish one character from another? How do I color the thing so it looks pleasing and not so childish? How do I elevate the humor? Will the overall effect of student reactions bring clarity to readers' minds about matters of faith, existentialism, and suffering? When do I invite more First Readers? Should I invite more First Readers? These challenges distract me from the drawing task at hand but they are a pleasant distraction.
10. Inviting a tiny slice of the public to evaluate these pages forces me to define success. If writing like Tina Fey is my goal, I've failed. If drawing like Herge is my goal, I've failed. If musing like Kierkegaard, Pascal, Dostoevsky is my goal, I've failed. If creating a work that goes viral is my goal, I've failed. If creating scenes, settings, and camera angles like Steven Spielberg is my goal, I've failed. If winning a Pulitzer like Art Spiegelman is my goal, I've failed. But if marshaling and merging dozens of tasks from my fevered brain to create a hefty existential comic book and having fun while doing so is my goal, I'm king of the hill, a gold medal winner, I get the yellow jersey, Heisman trophy, and lifetime membership in the hall of fame.
1. A significant portion of my brain is now hooked on feedback. Rather than blissfully creating with nary a care, I spend a considerable amount of time hoping for, anticipating, and wishing for feedback.
2. Once I get that welcome feedback I then spend considerable time answering. Both wishing for and responding to feedback takes away from drawing.
3. I also spend time integrating that feedback into the pages I've completed. That is, I'm now editing those first pages incorporating the great suggestions First Readers have offered. This too takes away time from penciling, inking, and posting that public rough draft.
4. While I miss time away from drawing I must admit my ADD prone brain doesn't mind juggling all these disparate tasks. Part of the message of Ecclesiastes is that variety is the spice of life and engaging with the public over these doodles certainly adds variety.
5. Knowing that I've now got followers on that other blog (I think about 10 of the 30 I invited) I feel additional motivation to keep on top of my self imposed posting schedule. I'm aiming for two posts per week. I'd like to do more but turning my latest rough draft into a printable rough draft is still agonizingly slow. I'm just trying to cram too much data (pencil layouts, character development, more tweaking of the dialog, inking, coloring) through too small a pipe (my brain).
6. Posting this very rough draft feeds my sub personalities which are already prone to shame, embarrassment, and discouragement. The work in progress is a fool's errand. Each of the ingredients (humor, layout, facial expressions, section divisions, dialog, etc) are sub par and painful to read. Thus, a considerable amount of psychic time is spent fighting those self critical parts and pushing through the wall of resistance to accomplish the task at hand--illustrate the whole book of Ecclesiastes.
7. I'm "forced" to continually dangle in front of my imagination the Platonic arch-type of a polished, finished, and honed final product. In my mind it "works." It's witty. It's unique. It's helpful. It's drawn to perfection. Readers get it. Theologians, philosophers, and depressed existentialists welcome it. This fantasy is shamed by reality--what I've posted so far falls way short of this ideal. It looks to me garish, confusing, halting, insipid, and the work of a deranged mind. Oh well. There is a perfect graphic novel based on Ecclesiastes in essence somewhere in the universe and my efforts will bring it into existence.
8. I frame this psychic battle in positive terms. Moderating the internal debate builds character, strengthens synapses, and to be frank, is fun. Like the gambler whose dopamine neurotransmitters flow like Niagara when tossing dice, anticipating the finished product keeps my brain chemicals in a nearly constant state of mental bliss.
9. Posting the rough draft reveals many new problems to be solved. How do I conquer the tedium of boring talking heads? How do I help readers distinguish one character from another? How do I color the thing so it looks pleasing and not so childish? How do I elevate the humor? Will the overall effect of student reactions bring clarity to readers' minds about matters of faith, existentialism, and suffering? When do I invite more First Readers? Should I invite more First Readers? These challenges distract me from the drawing task at hand but they are a pleasant distraction.
10. Inviting a tiny slice of the public to evaluate these pages forces me to define success. If writing like Tina Fey is my goal, I've failed. If drawing like Herge is my goal, I've failed. If musing like Kierkegaard, Pascal, Dostoevsky is my goal, I've failed. If creating a work that goes viral is my goal, I've failed. If creating scenes, settings, and camera angles like Steven Spielberg is my goal, I've failed. If winning a Pulitzer like Art Spiegelman is my goal, I've failed. But if marshaling and merging dozens of tasks from my fevered brain to create a hefty existential comic book and having fun while doing so is my goal, I'm king of the hill, a gold medal winner, I get the yellow jersey, Heisman trophy, and lifetime membership in the hall of fame.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
"The Story Dictates the Cast," so says...
crime mystery writer, Janet Evanovich.
I agree. I cooked up a story and am creating characters to act in and carry forward that story.
However, in my case, pre-written dialogue dictates the story. I am not starting with a blank page but 400 or so pages each of which begins with another's quote. It's not the easiest way to create a novel, especially when those opening quotes are obtuse, contradictory, and mostly depressing.
What I am adding--humor, cartoons, philosophical and theological reflections--will hopefully make Ecclesiastes accessible to modern readers. I say "accessible," and not "understood." I'm not sure I understand it. I hope to empathize with and validate readers who puzzle over this strange book. Or who puzzle over the meaning of life. Or who are depressed or suffering or experiencing existential angst. I want to give persons of faith permission to raise questions of justice, science, meaning, sin, wisdom, death, suffering, and food.
I'm worried that I'm 100% irrelevant to my intended audience, university students. My dialog is loaded with boomer friendly illustrations so I'll lose 90% of twenty-somethings. Of the 10% that remain, I lose 7% for being too theological and 2% for being too philosophical. Of the remaining 1% .5% don't read, .4% gave up comic books at age 12, and the remaining .1% look like fans at a Bassnectar concert.
So why do I keep going? Ecclesiastes U is therapy for sadness. I didn't expect to end up visiting my wife in a nursing home at our young age, struggling to understand her words, or watching the glimmer in her eyes fade away.
In fiction story dictates cast; in real life stories crash upon, squish like a bug, and rattle the cast to their bones. This cast member, anyway. There's high probability that, once finished, this massive project will languish on a digital shelf, a fitting end to illustrating an absurd book inspired by an absurd disease informing an absurd life.
I agree. I cooked up a story and am creating characters to act in and carry forward that story.
However, in my case, pre-written dialogue dictates the story. I am not starting with a blank page but 400 or so pages each of which begins with another's quote. It's not the easiest way to create a novel, especially when those opening quotes are obtuse, contradictory, and mostly depressing.
What I am adding--humor, cartoons, philosophical and theological reflections--will hopefully make Ecclesiastes accessible to modern readers. I say "accessible," and not "understood." I'm not sure I understand it. I hope to empathize with and validate readers who puzzle over this strange book. Or who puzzle over the meaning of life. Or who are depressed or suffering or experiencing existential angst. I want to give persons of faith permission to raise questions of justice, science, meaning, sin, wisdom, death, suffering, and food.
I'm worried that I'm 100% irrelevant to my intended audience, university students. My dialog is loaded with boomer friendly illustrations so I'll lose 90% of twenty-somethings. Of the 10% that remain, I lose 7% for being too theological and 2% for being too philosophical. Of the remaining 1% .5% don't read, .4% gave up comic books at age 12, and the remaining .1% look like fans at a Bassnectar concert.
 |
| Fans of Bassnectar; not one graphic novel in the mix |
In fiction story dictates cast; in real life stories crash upon, squish like a bug, and rattle the cast to their bones. This cast member, anyway. There's high probability that, once finished, this massive project will languish on a digital shelf, a fitting end to illustrating an absurd book inspired by an absurd disease informing an absurd life.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Progress Update and Boomer Reflections
After a difficult week slogging through EU5 (Eccl. 3:1-15), I finished touching up the gen-y-affirming script, carefully positioned and outlined each word balloon, and attached appropriate characters to all the word balloons.
Then this weekend I finished EU6 (Eccl. 3:16-22) with script and characters. I'm happy with the results, confident that another edit or two will make a good script even better.
I've printed EU 7 (Eccl. 4:1-12) and EU 8 (Eccl. 4:13-16) with placed and outlined word balloons awaiting dialog editing and assigning speakers to each word balloon (my delightful project this week).
What slowed me down last week was the realization that the dialog I'd created was straight from my boomer brain and too antiquated for my intended audience (20 somethings). Thankfully, I've got a character (working name: Aging Hippie) who will be my voice concerning all things 60s related.
Interestingly, I watched The Way this weekend. The main character, Martin Sheen, is a man in his 60s who traveled to Spain and he met a woman in her 20s (?) who was angry and said to Sheen,
I was somewhat taken aback by this jab. Either I'm naive, or blessed with friendly acquaintances in their 20s. I'm not used to being the butt of another's animosity. With no recollection of any attempt on my part to screw anyone over I feel I've been unjustly criticized. (Maybe I'm being too sensitive; after all, she didn't say it to me).
On my next edit I plan on expunging all gen-y, off-putting comments from my ancient brain. To replace them perfectly I'd need to interview current university students but do not plan on doing so. This project is growing in size and I'm going to sacrifice perfect dialog in favor of completion. A graphic novel with less than perfect dialog is better than no graphic novel at all.
First draft: 68 or 69 large pages with hand written dialog.
Second draft: Publisher pages with six panels and typed dialog.
Third draft: Publisher pages with polished dialog and Scotch taped characters (EU6 brought me to page 97).
 |
| Sample page from EU5 (page 74) |
Then this weekend I finished EU6 (Eccl. 3:16-22) with script and characters. I'm happy with the results, confident that another edit or two will make a good script even better.
 |
| Sample page from EU6 (page 96) |
I've printed EU 7 (Eccl. 4:1-12) and EU 8 (Eccl. 4:13-16) with placed and outlined word balloons awaiting dialog editing and assigning speakers to each word balloon (my delightful project this week).
What slowed me down last week was the realization that the dialog I'd created was straight from my boomer brain and too antiquated for my intended audience (20 somethings). Thankfully, I've got a character (working name: Aging Hippie) who will be my voice concerning all things 60s related.
Interestingly, I watched The Way this weekend. The main character, Martin Sheen, is a man in his 60s who traveled to Spain and he met a woman in her 20s (?) who was angry and said to Sheen,
"Hey Boomer! You know, as in Baby Boomer? You have all of the signs of that desperate generation taking its last breath trying to screw the rest of us over one last time. The only thing missing from you, Boomer, is one of those stupid looking pony tails and collection of James Taylor songs on your ipod."
He said, "I love James Taylor, and I don't have an ipod."
I was somewhat taken aback by this jab. Either I'm naive, or blessed with friendly acquaintances in their 20s. I'm not used to being the butt of another's animosity. With no recollection of any attempt on my part to screw anyone over I feel I've been unjustly criticized. (Maybe I'm being too sensitive; after all, she didn't say it to me).
On my next edit I plan on expunging all gen-y, off-putting comments from my ancient brain. To replace them perfectly I'd need to interview current university students but do not plan on doing so. This project is growing in size and I'm going to sacrifice perfect dialog in favor of completion. A graphic novel with less than perfect dialog is better than no graphic novel at all.
First draft: 68 or 69 large pages with hand written dialog.
Second draft: Publisher pages with six panels and typed dialog.
Third draft: Publisher pages with polished dialog and Scotch taped characters (EU6 brought me to page 97).
Friday, April 13, 2012
Creativity and Writer's Block
I've pressed through the wall of impenetrability. Having expunged from my first draft of Ecclesiastes 3 all boomer-isms, I was left with nothing but blank space. My efforts this week have been focused on filling that blank space with images twenty-somethings could relate to. I have no clue if I'm close but I feel good knowing I've come up with new 28 ideas.
Artist Jasper Johns nailed it. This to me is the essence of creativity--editing, rough drafts, mutations, and the elimination of vestigial words/images. Keep adding something often enough and soon you've got something.
Without boring readers by listing all my aborted attempts at gen-y-ifying Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, I can say this:
I've chosen to lighten the mood and not post images of Hiroshima (a time to make war), MLK assassination (a time to kill), hoarding (a time to keep), or wacky faith healers (a time to heal). Even though such images would have proven good fodder for student reactions, those images are heavy handed. Mr. Q is obtuse enough without my all to obvious renderings. I'll let his lectures carry the somber tone; he doesn't need my help.
This decision of course makes hash out of 3:14, "God does all these things so that we may fear him." Mr. Q's point in this poem about time is, "providence is loaded with example after example of oddments, conundra, and counter examples of eudaemonism." Mr. Q is whining (justifiably) about the problem of evil. My artistic sense tells me to restrain myself, go light, and save my ire at evil until later; we've still got nine more chapters of morbidity to deal with.
In addition, drawing images inspired by 2012 pop culture will unfortunately mean in three years or less my book will fall out of favor. The shelf life of humor is notoriously short, increasingly so in our day of data smog.
Yet, it still feels right to me to lighten the tone in this iconic poem with humorous images that reflect 28 experiences in the life of a university student ("a time to weep" getting a tattoo or piercing, "a time to tear" holes in the knees of one's jeans, "a time to hate" boomers like me asking gen-y folk to fix my computer, and 25 more).
If anyone is keeping track, it took four pages of mind dump to come up with 28 new thumbnail images. The toughest verbs to gen-y-ify were, "a time to plant, heal, tear down, gather stones, and give up searching." At this stage I'm leaving behind this time poem confident I'll get another chance to edit it again after letting these ideas marinate for several months as I work on the rest of the text.
Doing something to something and then doing it again until you've got something unleashes dopamine in the pleasure centers of my brain which is incredibly fun!
Artist Jasper Johns nailed it. This to me is the essence of creativity--editing, rough drafts, mutations, and the elimination of vestigial words/images. Keep adding something often enough and soon you've got something.
Without boring readers by listing all my aborted attempts at gen-y-ifying Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, I can say this:
I've chosen to lighten the mood and not post images of Hiroshima (a time to make war), MLK assassination (a time to kill), hoarding (a time to keep), or wacky faith healers (a time to heal). Even though such images would have proven good fodder for student reactions, those images are heavy handed. Mr. Q is obtuse enough without my all to obvious renderings. I'll let his lectures carry the somber tone; he doesn't need my help.
This decision of course makes hash out of 3:14, "God does all these things so that we may fear him." Mr. Q's point in this poem about time is, "providence is loaded with example after example of oddments, conundra, and counter examples of eudaemonism." Mr. Q is whining (justifiably) about the problem of evil. My artistic sense tells me to restrain myself, go light, and save my ire at evil until later; we've still got nine more chapters of morbidity to deal with.
In addition, drawing images inspired by 2012 pop culture will unfortunately mean in three years or less my book will fall out of favor. The shelf life of humor is notoriously short, increasingly so in our day of data smog.
Yet, it still feels right to me to lighten the tone in this iconic poem with humorous images that reflect 28 experiences in the life of a university student ("a time to weep" getting a tattoo or piercing, "a time to tear" holes in the knees of one's jeans, "a time to hate" boomers like me asking gen-y folk to fix my computer, and 25 more).
If anyone is keeping track, it took four pages of mind dump to come up with 28 new thumbnail images. The toughest verbs to gen-y-ify were, "a time to plant, heal, tear down, gather stones, and give up searching." At this stage I'm leaving behind this time poem confident I'll get another chance to edit it again after letting these ideas marinate for several months as I work on the rest of the text.
Doing something to something and then doing it again until you've got something unleashes dopamine in the pleasure centers of my brain which is incredibly fun!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Ecclesiastes 3, Again
I woke up with a bolt of insight on why my efforts to illustrate Ecclesiastes 3 wasn't working: the images are too boomer-ish.
My intended audience--university undergrads in 2012--hold boomers in high disdain. My rough drafts just ooze "old man." Do university students today have any recollection of Pete Seeger's Turn, Turn, Turn? Do they have any affinity with aging hippies, the Rolling Stones, WW2 photos, or Emmett Kelly (ancient even by my standards)? Bottom line: millennials and gen-y folk do not think I am groovy.
My creativity is pressed to the max. How do I get into the heads of early 20-somethings?
And if I could, do I want to lock this graphic novel into their 2012 time and space?
Look at these photos from the latest issue of Newsweek. Which of these tribes is my audience? And how do I translate my vision of Mr. Q's vision in their language?
I've been assuming university students today are like I was 35 years ago...interested in philosophy, the Big Questions, existentialism, and melancholia.
I'm having a creative crisis right now....so here's the plan: I'm going to carry this chart around and fill it in with ideas that I hope will be more relevant to my intended audience.
One final question: is my writer's block due to the complex nature of my immediate task (imaging Eccl. 3 for a tribe different than my own)? OR, am I just brain weary, uninspired, and experiencing synaptic fatigue? I'm keeping this blog in order to grapple with such questions.
My intended audience--university undergrads in 2012--hold boomers in high disdain. My rough drafts just ooze "old man." Do university students today have any recollection of Pete Seeger's Turn, Turn, Turn? Do they have any affinity with aging hippies, the Rolling Stones, WW2 photos, or Emmett Kelly (ancient even by my standards)? Bottom line: millennials and gen-y folk do not think I am groovy.
My creativity is pressed to the max. How do I get into the heads of early 20-somethings?
And if I could, do I want to lock this graphic novel into their 2012 time and space?
Look at these photos from the latest issue of Newsweek. Which of these tribes is my audience? And how do I translate my vision of Mr. Q's vision in their language?
I've been assuming university students today are like I was 35 years ago...interested in philosophy, the Big Questions, existentialism, and melancholia.
I'm having a creative crisis right now....so here's the plan: I'm going to carry this chart around and fill it in with ideas that I hope will be more relevant to my intended audience.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Turn, Turn, Turn
I'm having problems with Chapter 3, "A time to be born, a time to die" (and 13 other couplets). I've been wrestling with this text for three days and am frustrated. No matter which way I plan to illustrate it, it just doesn't feel right.
1. Does the passage commend determinism ("there is a time determined for every event"), or prudence ("some times are better than others to engage in activities "). Based on 3:11 and 14, I opt for the former. I don't believe in determinism, but I believe that is the point of this long poem.
2. If Mr. Q is describing an immutable providence behind birth and death and 26 other verbs, do I draw them schmaltzy and cute? Or raw like the rest of the book? Prudence tells me to draw baby bassinets and laughing children and peace signs and fighter jets. But then it won't fit with the tenor of the rest of the book.
3. But if I draw baby Osama Bin Laden in a bassinet, planting of opium fields, and feeding Christians to the lions, I'm being true to Mr. Q's penchant for obscurity, absurdity, and depression. But then it won't fit with the tenor of pop culture and love of warm fuzzies.
The reason I'm choking is because I'm thinking too hard. Mr. Q's string of mostly benign actions could mean, "Here are some random things over which we have no control," but how do I draw those actions?
I'd love to use this photo as reference for a cartoony version of, "A time to embrace."
And then I'd like draw that nurse slapping the Navy man to illustrate, "A time to refrain from embracing."
But that "joke" is out of sync with the book of Ecclesiastes...as are the following.
"A time to cast away stones."
"A time to gather stones together."
"A time to plant" (which my aging hippy character would love):
"A time to uproot." (my aging hippy character will weep tears of sorrow).
"A time to mourn."
"A time to laugh."
Non of these images work for me. This is such a pivotal passage I gotta draw it right. One false move and I doom my graphic novel to kitsch-ville. If I nail it I could turn those 24 drawings into a poster.
How do I get unstuck? I just don't know.
1. Does the passage commend determinism ("there is a time determined for every event"), or prudence ("some times are better than others to engage in activities "). Based on 3:11 and 14, I opt for the former. I don't believe in determinism, but I believe that is the point of this long poem.
2. If Mr. Q is describing an immutable providence behind birth and death and 26 other verbs, do I draw them schmaltzy and cute? Or raw like the rest of the book? Prudence tells me to draw baby bassinets and laughing children and peace signs and fighter jets. But then it won't fit with the tenor of the rest of the book.
3. But if I draw baby Osama Bin Laden in a bassinet, planting of opium fields, and feeding Christians to the lions, I'm being true to Mr. Q's penchant for obscurity, absurdity, and depression. But then it won't fit with the tenor of pop culture and love of warm fuzzies.
The reason I'm choking is because I'm thinking too hard. Mr. Q's string of mostly benign actions could mean, "Here are some random things over which we have no control," but how do I draw those actions?
I'd love to use this photo as reference for a cartoony version of, "A time to embrace."
And then I'd like draw that nurse slapping the Navy man to illustrate, "A time to refrain from embracing."
But that "joke" is out of sync with the book of Ecclesiastes...as are the following.
"A time to cast away stones."
"A time to gather stones together."
"A time to plant" (which my aging hippy character would love):
"A time to uproot." (my aging hippy character will weep tears of sorrow).
"A time to laugh."
Non of these images work for me. This is such a pivotal passage I gotta draw it right. One false move and I doom my graphic novel to kitsch-ville. If I nail it I could turn those 24 drawings into a poster.
How do I get unstuck? I just don't know.
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